It all started on TikTok. Retired child actors Kira Kosarin and Addison Riecke hinted at a return of their show “The Thundermans.” Kosarin reprising her role as Pheobe, who shares freeze breath and telekenisis with her twin brother Max. Riecke comes back as a teenaged Nora alongside Diego Valasquez as her brother Billy.
“The Thundermans” was created by Jed Sringarn and premiered Oct. 14, 2013. It follows Pheobe and Max as they navigate highschool with their family’s secret of having superpowers. Max spends most of the show being compelled to become a supervillain. Hank, their dad who has the powers of flight and super strength spends most of his time in the house alongside wife Barb, who is a retired elctrokinetic hero named ‘Electress’.
Younger siblings Nora, has laser eyes and Billy, who has super speed are finding themselves as superheroes. The younger pair of Thundermans are each others best friends, unlike Pheobe and Max who are constantly fighting. Later, they welcome a little sister into the mix, discovering in season 3 that she has teleportation. The show aired for four seasons before coming to an end on May 25, 2018.
“The Thundermans Return” film came out on March 7, 2024. The movie follows the family as they begin a new era of superhero crimefighting away from Hiddenville. But as twins Phoebe and Max are enjoying their superhero lifestyle, a ‘save’ goes awfully wrong. The whole family is sent back to Hiddenville. Hank and Barb relish in their time back as their teenage children Nora and Billy are excited to become normal highschoolers. However, Phoebe and Max are not so thrilled to be back. Throughout the film, they are determined to gain back their status after their failed save.
The V-team are the named villains of this movie. They got the Thundermans fired after Max has a slip-up with a large doughnut. This team, as the Thundermans live in Hiddenville reveals to the audience their villainess, visiting their supervillain in prison. Pheobe and Max discover this information and band their family together to step in front of the V-team.
The last action-packed minutes of the movie are filled with the family fighting the V-team on top of a mountain where they planned on releasing red parts of a plant to turn regular people into villains. Chloe, the youngest child, causes a near save of the town after teleporting the twins to the drone releasing the red parts, and then finally teleports the whole family home.
With remakes upon revivals of movies and TV shows, it is difficult to make one that satisfies the nostalgia of those who watched the show before. The movie definitely gave the nostalgic feel of running downstairs to watch TV as a child. However, the CGI did not improve after 6 years. It was created for children who would not notice the fake nature of it, but the creators should have tried a little more knowing that those who first watched the show are old enough to notice.
However, the plot was written well and fast-paced at an hour and thirty minutes. Most say that there was at least one plot-twist that shocked them, which is difficult with any child-oriented movie. The movie was captivating by the very first frame, starting immediately into the action packed Nickelodeon feel children know and love. Yet, at the end, there seemed to be many loose ends; leaving people to sit and think. There should be a sequel to clear these up and to have a more definitive end. Although, if there is not a sequel, the vague ending would not make the movie worth watching.
This movie feels like waking up in the summer, sitting on the carpet, and eating sugary cereal. Reprises of coveted Nickelodeon shows was a fantastic idea that they should continue to do.
